The Savannah Regional Minister, Hon. Saeed Muhazu Jibril has bemoaned the poor survival rate of trees planted across the Savannah Region through the annual Green Ghana Day tree planting project.
The honorable Minister noted with dismay, an abysmal 37% survival rate of the over 1.8 million trees planted across the Savannah Region since the inception of the Green Ghana Day in 2021, which is the lowest in the country.
He therefore entreated all citizens and residents of Savannah Region to make it a priority to nurture these trees to grow because the Forestry Commission cannot do it alone. He further stressed the importance to leave a rich vegetation legacy not only for the future generation but for the current generation as well as the popular adage goes, if the last tree dies, the last man dies. Hon. Jibril invited all hands on deck to help increase the survival rate from 37% to between 40%-45% to prove a judicious use of the quota allotted Savannah Region.
Shedding light on activities threatening the vegetation in the region, the Hon. Minister poked at activities of illegal lumbers and charcoal burners who through their activities indiscriminately pose gross threat to the regional vegetation. Thus, the need to develop frantic measures to carefully nurture the trees planted through the Green Ghana Day project to survive whiles developing pragmatic measures to deter illegal activities that destroys the vegetation and the environment as a whole.
The 2024 Green Ghana Day was marked under the theme: “Planting for a greener tomorrow”. Savannah Region marked the occasion across all the seven districts of the region with the ceremonial tree planting hosted at the newly constructed Regional Education Directorate.
Gracing the occasion were regional and municipal heads of departments and agencies, security services, traditional council, the clergy, students of the Agricultural Department of Damongo Senior High School (DASS), the press, civil society organizations, and citizens.
Five hundred thousand seedlings are to be planted across Savannah region in the 2024 Green Ghana Day Project.
